Whether you’re bulking up, trimming down, or just trying to adopt a lifestyle that will ensure optimum health and fitness, you may have found that you’re having trouble getting the results you crave or that your new routine leaves you tired, achy, and wondering why you started in the first place. In many cases, this is due to the fact that you have drastically changed your diet, your level of physical activity, or both without stopping to consider how these changes might affect the way your body functions.

Getting All Your Desired Nutrients

It could be that you are now missing out on vital nutrients needed to help you reach your goals, achieve peak performance levels, and feel your best. At this point you might consider supplements as a way to get the protein, vitamins, or other nutrients required to balance out your new regimen. However, supplements can be expensive, and you might not be able to fit everything you need into your limited budget. So if you want to avoid spending a fortune, here are a few options to help you meet all of your needs.

Supplement Strategies

The first thing to consider is that supplements are meant to do just what they say: supplement the nutrients you already get through food. So if you can’t afford a ton of supplements, you might be able to find ways to get what you need via targeted consumption.

For example, many women suffer from iron deficiency that leads to anemia. This can cause fatigue and other symptoms and additional exercise and the wrong diet can further exacerbate the condition. But rather than adding iron supplements, which can upset your stomach anyway, consider that red meat, organs, clams, oysters, oatmeal, raisin bran, soybeans, and a number of other foods are already high in iron, so adding them to your diet could help you to get the nutrients you need without supplements.

Don’t forget that some foods aid in absorption of certain nutrients while others make them harder to absorb. In other words, you need to do a little research in order to ensure that you’re able to get the nutrients you need the most. And in some cases, an inexpensive daily vitamin can deliver everything your body is lacking.

Protein Supplements

Once you have determined the nutrients you can reasonably consume through food sources you can focus on putting your budget for supplements towards the products that you simply can’t get enough of via the foods you eat. Protein, for example, is essential to anyone that is trying to bulk. In fact, you may need so much protein that it is physically impossible for you to consume enough in a day through your food consumption. In this case you will almost certainly want to add high-protein supplements like smoothie powder or bars, for example. But this can still get pricy. How can you cut back on your costs when you can’t avoid buying supplements?

Shopping Online

A good place to start is by shopping online, where many consumers have found vitamin promotions, discount websites, and deals galore. However, the cost of shipping could be prohibitive, negating any savings you find. Or perhaps you just like to shop locally. In this case, you should definitely join some kind of club. GNC, for example, has the Gold Card program that allows users to save 20% on purchases made during the first seven days of the month. You can also get free shipping online when you spend $99 or more.

If you sign up through Rite Aid (through 12-31-2012) you can get a $5-off coupon for the membership fee (normally $15). You can use such membership programs to buy in bulk and get maximum savings, with a little planning. Supplements may not be cheap, but you can find deals if you do a little digging and get the products you need at a price you can afford.